Car-coupling



` 2 sheets-sheet 1. A. H. WBIR. GAB, GOUPLING..

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. H. WEIR.

GAR COUPLING (No Model.)

Patented Oct.. 2O

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREV H. VEIR, OF LOS ANGELES, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES OBANNON, OF SAN GABRIEL, CALIFORNIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 461,527, dated October 20, 1891.

Application filed November 14, 1890.v Serial No. 371,398. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW H. WE1E,a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and' State of California, have invented a newl and useful Improvement in Oar Couplings', of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide means whereby the ordinary link-and-pin coupling can be employed in coupling cars without any danger to life or limb.

My invention consists, essentially, of a gravity-pin support and dropper comprising a .bar suspended in the path of the link by suitable swings and arranged to normally swing for ward and project into the .mouth of the drawbar across the path of the pin to sustain the pin in position to allow the insertion of the link and to swing out of the path of the pin when engaged by the link forced into the draw-head in the act of coupling.

I am aware that there have heretofore been employed link-operated pin-droppin g devices,

and do not broadly claima link-operated pi'ndropping device as myinvention; but my invention consists of various features of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figurezl is a vertical longitudinal section of two draw-heads provided with my invention and in the act of coupling. In this view one of the draw-heads is shown as' being higher than the other to illustrate the operation of the improved draw-head when the drawheads are of different heights. Fig. 2 is a top view of the draw-head with the front part of its top broken away to expose the link guideway formed by the curved flaring face of the lower lip of the draw-head. In this figure the pin-support and the dropperbar A is shown in its forward or normal position. Dotted lines show it-in its retracted position. Fig. 3 is a front elevation looking 5o to be inserted.

prises a swinging or oscillating gravity-bar A, provided with the clevis-holes E F and provided with the top forward extension eX- tended beyond the front clevis-hole E and forming the pin -supporting nose b. rlhis gravity-bar is suspended substantially horizontal in the draw-bar B and parallel with the axis thereof. It is supported by the clevises or swings C D, which are respectively passed through the holes E Fin the bar A and pivoted to the draw-bar by bolts G H, passed through the eyes I in the ends of the clevises, and secured in the draw-bar, preferably by stoving their ends, as indicated in Fig. 2. A

In order to prevent the pin support or dropper from being oscillated by the motion of the car and thus acquiring sufficient momentum to swing back to release the pin, I provide the front stop J to engage the throat j of the draw-head to hold the barAfar enough back to throw the rear clevis D out of the perpendicular, thus raising the rear end of the bar A, so that the bar is held pressed forward by its gravity, and the initial movement of any oscillation must raise the rear end of the bar. To increase this effect, the rear bolt H is higher than the front bolt G and the rear E.

In order to preventany upward movement of the front end of the bar which might throw the pin out of the draw-head, the hole E, through which the front clevis C passes, is in the form of a slot longitudinal of the bar and having its top slightly curved up at the front end, so that at the initial rearward movement of the bar the clevis C slips in its slot, or, more properly, the slotted bar moves back without moving the front clevis until the end of the slot engages the clevis, thus throwing it back and raising the bar at its front end as well as the rear, so that the rear end of the bar is raised at its initial backward movement more rapidly than/it would be were the rear clevis to normally hang perpendicular.

This rapid elevation of the rear end causes' IOO slight upward curve h of the top of the slot. The rear clevis is longer than the front clevis and its pivot is higher than the pivot of the front clevis, in order that when the bar is swung back the swing of the rear clevis will be suiiicient to allow the bar to move back the length of the slot E and the full swing of the front clevis also. The rear clevis, its pivot, the bar, and its stop are arranged with such relation to each other that when the bar is in its normal position the lower end is held back the sixteenth of a circle, more or less. By this contrivance the rear end of the bar is raised and the front end is lowered si|nulta neously at the initial backward movementof the bar, and at its final rearward movement the bar is lifted bodily ii' it is thrown back t'ar enough to swing the front elevis, except, however, the extreme front end, which then i'noves back substantially on a horizontal line. This contrivance enables me to provide still further means for preventing the oscillating of the dropper by making a slight pin-retaining elevation d on the top of the pin-supporting nose or nib b. This elevation engages the `pin L, and thus assists to prevent the bar from moving backward unless iinpelled with coiisiderable force, so as to drive it quickly, as in the actof coupling. The sudden downward movement of the front end just described allows the elevation ce to pass the pin without raising it.'

c represents the link-shoulder underneath the pin nose or nib b, and against which the link e strikes in the act of coupling. In order to guide the link into its proper seat in the draw head or bar B, I construct the mouth of the draw-head of a peculiar form. The upper face of its lower lip is vertically broad, and is inclined upward and backward, and is dished or curved inward from the side walls d and back toward the pin-hole C-that is to say,'the mouth of the drawl1ead is provided with a broad inclined downward and outwardly flaring lip, the upper edge of which at its junction with the iioor N of the link-receptacle forms two lateral forwardly-proj ecting link-supporting shoulders n. In addition to this the inclined lip M is vertically broad, so that it will receive the link in case the link should droop or in case the opposing drawhead should be higher than the head in which the link is inserted, as shown in Fig. l. The curved and inclined flaring face m of the un der lip receives the rounded end of the link and guides it into the exact central position required for it to receive the pin. This feature avoids all necessity of the operator guiding the link into place with his hand or with a stick, as is customary with link-couplings. The top edge of the face m of the flaring lip is crescent-shaped, as shown in Fig. 2, and when the link is in position in the draw-head its parallel side arms will rest upon the shoulders n, formed by the horns of the crescent, thus bringing the point of support nearer the middle of the link than has heretofore been the case in flaring-mouth draw-heads. The nose or nib ZJ is arranged to leave between it and the iioor N of the link-receptacle a space slightly less than the thickness of the link,`so that the weight ot' the front end of the bar, in conjunction with the shoulders fn, will tend to prevent the free end of the link from drooping. If the link should droop, thus raising the front end of the gravity-bar, the weight of such bar will tend to cause the link to more easily slide up the inclined lip m of the draw-head when coupling. In order to prevent the barA from binding, the front clevisslot E lis of greater width vertically than the diameter of theelevis passing therethrough, so that the front end ot' the bar may be lifted slightly withoutbinding against the clevis. The roof ot` the month of the draw-head is sloped and dished or channeled from the ex treme front downward and backward to the link-seat behind the pin-hole, so as to guide the end of the link properly when the end of the link chances to be elevatedand engages the roof of the mouth instead ot the lower lip.

The pin-pulling attachment consists of the combination of the journaled rod l?, provided with the cranks or handles Q Q,the pin-pulling arm R, and the side stops S S', the central arc stop T, and the chain U, secured to the pin. The rod P is journaled in bearings V, secured to the end of the car X and provided withthe side shoulders o o to receive the stops S S when it is desiredto hold the pin in its elevated position. The stops S and S are arranged to allow the bar to play longitudinally and are arranged to play freely past the shoulders o o when the pin-pulling arm is midway of the are stop T. When it is desired to draw the pin without entering between the cars, the crank Q or Q is raised, thus raising the end of the arm R and with-v drawing the pin until the arc comes into contact with the top arm of are stop T. The pin, arm, chain, and are stop are so proportioned and arranged with relation to each other that the arm strikes the stop when the pin has been raised far enough to allow the pindropper to swing forward under it. The arc stop may be of wood, either with or without an iron facing f, and the movement of the arm may be gaged by adding to or taking from the upper or lower arms t t', as may be desired, to allow the proper sweep of the arm.

IOO

IIO

In operation the pin is drawn by operating the handle, as above set forth, and then, if it is desired to hold the pin in its elevated position, the rod is drawn or pushed bodily endwise; thus bringing the stop S or S as the case maybe, into position to engage the shoulder e or fu', thus to hold t e arm R in its elevated position. To release it the rod is again moved endwise, so that the stops will not engage the shoulders.

The puller-rod Pis formed of a single piece `bent to form the arm andthe handles, and the stops may be pins inserted through the rod.

lVhile the pin-dropping device and the pinpuller may be used separately, I prefer to use them combined to form a complete coupling device, as shown in Fig. 4.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a oar-coupling, the pin support and dropper comprising a bar suspended in the path of the link by suitable swings, substantially as set forth.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination of the draw-bar, thegravity-bar provided with the @levis-holes and provided with the forward extension extending beyond the'front elevishole to form the pin-supporting nose, andthe elevises passed through the @levis-holes and pivoted atvtheir upper ends to the draw-bar.

3. In a oar-coupling, the combination of the draw-bar, lthe gravity-bar provided with the rear elevis-hole and the front oblong @levishole and provided with the top forward eX- tension extendingbeyond the front @levis-hole to form the pin-supporting nose, and the elevises passed through the olevis-holes and pivoted at their upper ends to the draw-bar.

4. In a oar-coupling, the combination of the draw-bar, the gravity-bar provided vvith the rear @levis-hole and the front oblong v@levis-V hole, the front stop, and the forward extension extending beyond the front olevis-hole to form the pin-supporting nose, the front and rear olevises passed through the @levishole and pivoted to the draw-bar at their upper ends and so arranged With relation to the v@levis-hole to form the pin-supporting nose and provided with the slight pin-retaining elevation, and the front and rear elevises pivoted to the draw-bar.

6. In a oar-coupling substantially such as set forth, the gravity-bar having the front end of the top of its oblong front olevis-hole slightly curved upward, as and for lthe purpose set forth.

7. In aearcoupling,the combination of the draw-bar provided with the link-supporting shoulders, the link, and the gravity-pinsupporter and dropper provided with the forwardly-projecting nose to rest upon the point of the link.

8. In a oar-coupling, the pin-'pulling device comprising the combination of the bearings secured to the end of the ear and provided With the shoulders, the journaled rod provided with the handles, the pin-pulling arm, the side stops, the central are stop, and the chain and pin.

ANDREW I-I. VEIR. Witnesses:

JAMES R. ToWNsEND, M. C. GALER. 

